JK Rowling has taken a brutal swipe at Hollywood actor Pedro Pascal after he publicly lashed out at her once again over her stance on women’s rights.
The Harry Potter creator, 59, hit back in typically savage fashion after The Last of Us star reignited their feud during a new interview with Vanity Fair, where he doubled down on earlier attacks, branding Rowling a ‘heinous loser’.
Pascal, 49, who has a transgender sibling, originally lashed out at the best-selling author on Instagram earlier this year after she praised a Supreme Court ruling protecting women-only spaces.
The Chilean-born actor described Rowling’s reaction as ‘awful, disgusting’ and ‘heinous LOSER behaviour.’
Now, speaking to Vanity Fair, Pascal appeared to take aim at Rowling again, claiming he acted because he ‘hates bullies’.
‘The one thing that I would say I agonized over a little bit was just, ‘Am I helping? Am I f***ing helping?’ he said.
‘It’s a situation that deserves the utmost elegance so that something can actually happen, and people will actually be protected. Listen, I want to protect the people I love. But it goes beyond that. Bullies make me f***ing sick.’
In response she said: ‘Can’t say I feel very shut down, but keep at it, Pedro. God loves a trier.’
Hollywood actor Pedro Pascal has spoken out to defend his criticisms of JK Rowling
In a typically scathing tweet, Rowling mocked the actor’s attempt to take her down: ‘Can’t say I feel very shut down, but keep at it, Pedro. God loves a trier’
His comments were hailed by LGBTQ+ outlet Gayety, which claimed Pascal had ‘shut down’ Rowling but the Edinburgh-based author was quick to clap back.
In a typically scathing tweet, Rowling mocked the actor’s attempt to take her down: ‘Can’t say I feel very shut down, but keep at it, Pedro. God loves a trier.’
The row originally erupted after Rowling posted a defiant photo of herself smoking a cigar on a boat, with the caption: ‘I love it when a plan comes together,’ celebrating the court ruling which banned biological men from using single-sex spaces such as women’s toilets, hospital wards and changing rooms.
That photo sparked outrage from Pascal, who responded furiously online and has continued to attack Rowling in public.
The actor, who will next appear in Marvel’s Fantastic Four reboot, previously shared a post declaring: ‘I can’t think of anything more vile and small and pathetic than terrorizing the smallest, most vulnerable community of people who want nothing from you, except the right to exist.’
Rowling has become a leading voice in the gender-critical movement, often clashing with trans rights activists and celebrities who oppose her views.
This was Pascal’s Instagram post in April backing calls for a boycott of Harry Potter productions in response to JK Rowling’s gender-critical opinions
Pedro Pascal and his sister Lux are seen here at the global premiere of his film Gladiator II at London’s Leicester Square last November
Harry Potter creator JK Rowling (pictured celebrating on her yacht a recent Supreme Court ruling on biological sex) has been arguing with critics over her views on gender
And in yet another celebrity clash, the author revealed this week that she has now been blocked by none other than Boy George following a heated row on social media.
Posting a screenshot of the block, Rowling sarcastically wrote: ‘But you were getting so much publicity out of me, George. Don’t tell me it backfired?’
The spat between the two began earlier this month after George accused Rowling of being a ‘rich, bored bully’.
The Karma Chameleon singer, 63, has repeatedly voiced support for transgender rights, putting him firmly at odds with Rowling.
Rowling did not hold back in her response, launching into a biting takedown and referencing George’s criminal past.
In a no-holds-barred post, she wrote: ‘I’ve never been given 15 months for handcuffing a man to a wall and beating him with a chain.’
George was jailed for four months in 2009 after being convicted of assault and false imprisonment of male escort Auden Carlsen.
Boy George sent a defiant message to ‘muggle’ JK Rowling live on Wednesday’s episode of Lorraine (pictured)
In 2017, he publicly apologised during an emotional interview with Piers Morgan’s Life Stories, calling it a ‘psychotic episode’.
‘I stopped him from leaving my apartment,’ he admitted, ‘it’s terrible what I did, and I’m ashamed and sorry for what I did. It was wrong.’
This week, George appeared to reignite tensions by mocking Rowling once more – this time suggesting she was a muggle, a term from the Harry Potter series used to describe non-magical people.
The pair have been trading blows since April, with Rowling blasting the singer after he accused her of failing to recognise the difference between transgender women and biological men.
